They Cut Down My Tree! Why’d They Do That?

Greetings everyone. If you live near a tree that’s been recently removed, you may wonder; “Why’d they do that? And why wasn’t I consulted? Furthermore, can I get another one?” The answers are, it depends, we don’t really have to, and yes, you can

Workers from Amazola Tree Service trim branches at Moravian Meadows on May 11, 2023

get another one.

Many times, we get requests from co-owners, in the form of work orders, to remove trees, shrubs, etc., that are dead or dying, diseased, or otherwise deemed unnecessary or unwanted. Other times, we notice these things on our own as we walk the property. Part of our duties as members of your working board of directors, is to make sure our community looks good. As stewards of the property, we have the right to remove trees, shrubbery, etc. that are in decline.

One co-owner recently got together with their next-door neighbor and decided to remove a tree just to let in more light to their units. One of the co-owners then replaced the removed tree with something that was much prettier. Of course, they got approval to do all of this. Another co-owner decided they would pay to replace the greenery that had to be removed from the driveway between their unit and the one next door. Again, the co-owners worked together to decide what to replace the removed greenery with and got approval from the board.

Finally, a couple of years ago we had tree specialists visit from the Michigan State University. They inspected our trees and sadly found that our maples are afflicted with a disease called verticillium wilt. Better known as “maple wilt” it is a soil-borne fungus that primarily targets maples and wood ornamental trees. There is no cure for this disease and doing deep root feeding only hastens the death of the tree. It saddens me to think that we will have to remove these trees in the near future. But any new trees that have already been planted or are slated for planting, will be resistant to this disease.

Nobody loves beautiful trees more than the members of your board of directors. When we have a tree removed, we do it with the intent of making things better. We are doing our best to keep Moravian Meadows green and a beautiful place to live. Want a new new tree? So do we. Please drop off your work order with your request at the gatehouse. Printed work orders are located in the box on the porch of the gatehouse, and you should return them in the box where you place your HOA dues. You can also print your own work order by going to the home page of the Web site, scrolling to the bottom of the page and downloading the PDF form. Your new tree may not come the same year we remove it (budget issues) but it’ll come. It might be smaller than the one we took down. But we know it will grow into a beautiful specimen.

See you in the next post . . .

Cordially,

Ed Mroz

President, Moravian Meadows Homeowners Association

Board Members Jim Dishman and Michelle Parnell contributed to this article.

Photo credits: Jim Dishman